Hot Topics:

Town Meeting to determine which side of future Tewksbury might be in store

By Katie Lannan, klannan@lowellsun.com

Updated:
08/18/2013 06:53:42 AM EDT

No Published Caption

TEWKSBURY -- Tuesday night's Town Meeting vote is a battle between dueling visions of Tewksbury's future.

One side envisions an entertainment destination. The other sees a bucolic suburb.

The difference between them is Merrimack Valley Casino, a $200 million slot parlor pitched for a 30-acre site on Ames Pond Drive, off of Route 133 near the Andover line.

Supporters of the plan say infusion of revenue and new jobs from the casino would be transformational, boosting the regional economy and financing upgrades to schools and infrastructure the town couldn't otherwise afford.

Those planning to vote against zoning changes that would allow the casino say the facility would bring with it crime and debauchery, gridlocked traffic and a stigmatizing, fundamental change to a bedroom community many current homeowners chose for its tranquility.

They'll square off in two days with a Special Town Meeting vote on a zoning amendment that would create an Ames Pond Overlay District, permitting gambling on the parcel of land Penn National Gaming is eying as the potential future home of its 1,250-machine slot parlor.

If the zoning change passes, approval would still be needed at a Sept. 21 townwide referendum before the state gaming commission could consider Penn's application for the state's one slots parlor license.

"We don't want to keep fighting," said Patricia Meuse, one of the town's representatives on the Shawsheen Regional Technical High School and an outspoken opponent to the slots plan. "We want to stop it now. We want to stop that district.

Advertisement

"

Meuse is joined in opposition by School Committee member Krissy Polimeno, former selectmen Ann Marie Stronach and Jerry Selissen, former assessor Jay Kelley and others. A "No Slots Tewksbury" Facebook page has 1,286 likes to the 818 for Penn National's "Yes for Tewksbury" page.

Selectmen voted unanimously on July 18, one week after the casino was first announced, to enter into a host community agreement with Penn National. If Merrimack Valley Casino is built, the contract stipulates the town will receive $1 million in annual mitigation fees, $120,000 for capital expenditures and an unspecified sum of money donated to local nonprofits. The company must also give preference to Tewksbury residents in hiring, build its facility using union labor and commission a traffic study.

Penn has also pledged $450,000 in grants to both the police and fire departments.

Town Manager Richard Montuori has projected the tax revenue from the casino as proposed would range from $3.1 million to $5.1 million, depending on the building's size.

"The town needs the revenue," he said. "It will help with services in the community and improving the community. I just think it's a good opportunity for us and, aside from that, I think the jobs are needed for the town and the region."

According to Penn National, the casino project is expected to create 1,000 construction jobs and 500 permanent positions.

"What the pattern has been for this industry, and Penn in particular, is that they get into a deal and find ways to change that deal," said Bruce Panilaitis, a Foster Road resident who printed and distributed "Vote No Slots" yard signs. "A subsidiary goes bankrupt, and the host aggreement then goes 'poof.' ... and all of the things that are guaranteed to us now won't be guaranteed to us, and we're stuck with this thing in our community."

Additional criticism has been aimed at the jobs themselves, with annual salaries of around $40,000, labeling them to some as low-paying.

At a Board of Selectmen meeting last week, Selectman Todd Johnson pointed out that police officers, firefighters and teachers in town start out in the same salary bracket. Town officials have also highlighted that a range of jobs will be offered, including marketing, security, information technology, sales and executive positions.

Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers supports the project, which union business manager Lou Antonellis of Billerica has said will generate solid jobs for Tewksbury's more than 130 electricians.

Speaking at a recent anti-slots meeting at Tewksbury Country Club, Kate O'Neil of the hospitality workers union Unite Here called Penn National one of the "bad players" in the casino industry. O'Neil, the union's senior research analyst, cited a 2012 case in which the company was found in breach of contract in Cherokee County, Kan., for backing out of a deal to build a state-owned casino there.

Town officials say their feedback from other communities where Penn operates has been overwhelmingly positive.

Montuori conducted conference calls of at least an hour each with civic leaders in Bangor, Maine, Joliet, Ind., Kansas City, Kan., and Toledo, Ohio, all which host Penn casinos. In those calls, Montuori said he learned the casinos had no major impact on crime and traffic and that the gaming company became a community partner. Property values did drop in Bangor -- which Montuori said the city manager there attributed to a recession, not the casino opening -- but remained unchanged in the other cities.

"There were no reservations, and it was quite refreshing in a very positive way to hear their experiences," said Selectmen Todd Johnson, who sat in on the Bangor call. "Quite frankly, I would have expected that if people had any negative sense they would not have opened their mouths, they would not have taken the call, they would not have spoken with such positive phrases."

A group of casino opponents who met with The Sun last week rejected the comparisons to those four cities, calling Tewksbury unique.

"I think it's a matter that we're underselling our benefits," Panilaitis said. He said Bangor may have needed a casino to pull it out of depression, but Tewksbury, despite its debt, is not depressed and has other options, including a potential to lure expanding tech companies and startups with office space cheaper than in the Boston area but still nearby.

His wife, Sue Panilaitis, said their family settled in Tewksbury and raised six kids there because they loved the small-town character, which a casino threatens.

Retired town assessor Jay Kelley said studies on casino-related crime have been inconclusive, despite anecdotal evidence given by town officials. Kelley, among those who expect a casino to bring criminal activity with it, argued that not every single one of an anticipated 1 million customers each year could be law-abiding.

"Maybe 99 percent of us are honest," he said. "That leaves 10,000 criminals coming into Tewksbury over the course of a year, and to say they're not going to commit crimes is absurd."

The casino proposal has been endorsed by the town's fire, patrolmen and superior officers unions, with representatives from each saying in a statement last week they expected no negative effect on public safety.

The statement echoed comments made by Police Chief Timothy Sheehan and Fire Chief Michael Hazel in front of the Board of Selectmen.

"It just doesn't appear from my perspective that traffic is going to be an issue, crime is going to be an issue or call volume will significantly increase," Sheehan told the board, adding that the Police Department would still be able to provide the same level of service to the town.

Traffic remains a concern for residents, particularly those living on or near Route 133, where the interchange with Interstate 495 regularly backs up at peak hours.

Penn National officials have estimated up to 5,000 cars a day could visit the facility. Their traffic study is underway and they have promised to make necessary infrastructure improvements.

Tuesday's vote is at 7 p.m. at Tewksbury Memorial High School. In anticipation of high turnout, Town Clerk Denise Graffeo announced shuttle buses will pick up residents at 15-minute intervals from three satellite parking locations: Town Hall, the Ryan School and the Department of Public Works.

Montuori said he feels the town has done as much research as possible in advance of the Special Town Meeting.

"Everything else comes if it passes on Tuesday," he said. "At this point, it's just up to the people how they want it to go."

Welcome to your discussion forum: Sign in with a Disqus account or your social networking account for your comment to be posted immediately, provided it meets the guidelines. (READ HOW.)
Comments made here are the sole responsibility of the person posting them; these comments do not reflect the opinion of The Sentinel and Enterprise. So keep it civil.